Michael Cera Almost Quit Acting After ‘Superbad’ Fame: I Was in ‘Crisis’

Michael Cera became “paranoid” over fame early in his career.

The “Arrested Development” actor revealed to The Guardian that by age 19, he contemplated stepping away from Hollywood for good. Cera starred in “Juno” and “Superbad,” both of which were released in 2007 and changed his life in an “overwhelming” way.

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“I didn’t know how to handle walking down the street,” Cera said. “Fame makes you very uncomfortable in your own skin, and makes you paranoid and weird. There were lots of great things about it, and I met a lot of amazing people, but there’s a lot of bad energies, too, ones that I was not equipped to handle.”

He continued, “Drunk people would be a classic example. You know, if people are drunk, and they recognize you, and they’re very enthusiastic, but it can be kind of toxic too. When you’re a kid, people also feel they can kind of grab you — they’re not that respectful of you or your physical space. I didn’t know how to respectfully establish my own boundaries. It was like a burning feeling the whole time, just like everybody was so aware of me. It was a mistake.”

Cera turned down hosting “Saturday Night Live” in an effort to tame his rising fame.

“There was a point where I wanted to stop taking jobs that would make me more famous,” the “Life and Beth” star said. “I was kind of having a bit of a crisis. I was really not enjoying the level of heat. I really didn’t know if I was going to keep being an actor.”

Cera had already signed onto Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” which was later released in 2010.

“I was already committed to it, and went and did it,” Cera said of his contract, “and obviously feel so grateful that that happened.”

Cera noted that his career choices were not solely to seek celebrity stardom but rather for the projects themselves.

“I knew that it wasn’t just like constantly fanning the flames to get bigger and bigger. I knew that wasn’t really my goal,” he said. “I think I wanted to be a working actor who can enjoy my day-to-day life, and the world that I’ve created for myself. I think that was the overall thing I was trying to figure out.”

Now, Cera stars in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” a film that he was “desperate to be a part of.” Cera is also reprising his titular role for a “Scott Pilgrim” animated Netflix series alongside the rest of the original cast, including Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Anna Kendrick. Cera additionally leads Steven Soderbergh’s streaming series “Command Z.”

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